These photos by Flip Schulke offer a vivid and intimate look at everyday life in Minnesota during the 1970s. Best known for his powerful documentation of the civil rights movement, Schulke also captured the quieter rhythms of small-town and rural America as part of the EPA’s Documerica project.
His images of Minnesota, particularly around New Ulm, reveal ordinary people, local landscapes, community activities, and the changing face of American life in the decade. Through his observant and humanistic lens, these photos preserve a valuable visual record of midwestern life more than fifty years ago.
A newly created park downtown on Minnesota Street in New Ulm, Minnesota, circa 1970s
Accordionist in a Polka band at the Gibbon Ballroom at Gibbon, Minnesota, 20 miles north of New Ulm, circa 1970s
Adults looking over bargain merchandise placed in the street on the sidewalks by merchants in New Ulm, Minnesota, during their annual summer Crazy Days sale, circa 1970s
Auctioneer asking for bids at an auction of household goods in a residential area, New Ulm, Minnesota, circa 1970s
Audience at an auction of household goods in a residential area, New Ulm, Minnesota, circa 1970s.
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